Published November 8, 2025
By Dean Dunham
The aged man appeared to be in his early eighties, but graying and frail were not the first words you would use to describe him. The bounce in his step was still there, and energy shone in his eyes, carrying more than a hint of what a force he once was. He stood amidst the large gathering of naval and Marine officers, relaxing after a long day’s schedule of reunion meetings. They sipped coffee and told tales of their service histories.
Suddenly, someone spotted him and a deep voice barked out above the din, “Wake Island Marine on deck!”
“Everyone stopped talking,” said a naval officer who witnessed the incident. “We stood at attention, faced the Marine and saluted. Those guys are legendary in the Navy and Marines for what they did, and whenever one is around, you pay him the highest respect.” My father was a Wake Island Marine.
Estille Dunham enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in November 1939 at the age of 25. As the Great Depression was winding down, many young men had a desire to receive a regular paycheck and thought an opportunity to see other parts of the world, was desirable. After completing basic training as part of the 56th Marine platoon in San Diego, California, he was stationed in the Asiatic Pacific area which included Hawaii.
One of Estille’s bothers, Lee, lived in Quincy and received a letter from Estille in November of 1941 after he had left Hawaii and arrived on Wake Island. In the letter, Estille said that about 450 Marines received very short notice to move from Hawaii to Wake. They did so the day after they were notified.
Estille said in his letter that he didn’t know how long he would be on this island – maybe 3 months but not longer than 6 months. He ended up leaving Wake on the Nitta Maru, a converted Japanese ocean liner on January 12, 1942 as a Japanese prisoner of war. He remained a POW for 1,350 days, until the end of World War II, September 16, 1945.
Wake was uninhabited before 1935 when Pan American Airways decided to use it for a refueling stop for their clipper ships enroute to China. It’s a very small island consisting of three atolls and a total land mass of 2.85 square miles. Located 2,298 miles west of Honolulu and 1,991 miles east of Tokyo, Wake is on the other side of the international dateline.
The legendary battle for Wake Island was called “The Alamo of the Pacific.” Japan attacked Pearl Harbor at 7:48 am local time and attacked Wake just 4 hours later at 11:50 am local time. Japanese naval and air forces continued attacking Wake Island for 15 consecutive days and nights. On December 23, 1941, the Japanese assembled massive attack forces by sea and air including landing troops and overtook the small group of 450 Marines and civilian Americans. On this date, U.S. forces realized their fight for survival was just beginning.
Wake Island prisoners soon found out what kind of treatment they would receive from their Japanese captors. After the American prisoners were ordered to disrobe, their captors made them cross their wrists behind their backs. The Japanese lashed together each prisoner’s wrists with a piece of communication wire appropriated from the Marines’ field phone network. They next took a strand of wire, looped it around the marines’ neck and tied the ends to their wrists, tugging them high up his back. This arrangement subjected its victims to acute discomfort. The wire bit into their wrists, which made their hands grow numb. If an American tried to struggle out of his bonds or just lower his wrists to relieve an ache in his shoulders he would choke himself.
Most Wake Island Marines spent the war at two camps just outside Shanghai, one of the few places where Japanese authorities permitted the Red Cross to aid POWs. As prisoners, they established life-saving communities to keep their dignity intact. They also relied on mutual-help networks to support individuals whose convictions wavered under the constant strains of physical and psychological torture.
After returning to Quincy in December of 1945, Estille was interviewed by the Quincy Herald-Whig. When you can return home after spending four years in Japanese prison camps-and still say, “I’d take a chance again if my country needed me,” you’re really patriotic.
Quiet, unassuming Corporal Estille Dunham of the United States Marine Corps is such a patriot. Taken prisoner by the Japanese on Wake Island, December 23, 1941, he spent the duration of the war in prison camps near Shanghai and on the island of Hokkaido. He learned what it means to be hungry, to be homesick to the point of illness. He learned what it means to see your buddies die on every side of tuberculosis and beriberi. He lost 48 pounds, he labored long hours in mines, he managed with the aid of Red Cross packages and the few medical men of his outfit to resist disease.” But in spite of everything they did, the Japs didn’t succeed in breaking down our morale,” declared Cpl. Dunham when interviewed concerning his long imprisonment. “They couldn’t do it!” He had nearly regained his weight of 160 pounds that had shrunk to 112 pounds at the time of his liberation.
Estille was born in Quincy in 1914, a resident virtually his entire civilian life. After his honorable discharge in February of 1946 he returned to living in Quincy. He married a local girl, and together they raised two sons. He passed away in October of 1980 while a resident of Quincy’s Illinois Veterans Home.
Dean Dunham is the son of Estille Dunham. During his employment career, he worked as a media consultant in four states. He is a lifelong musician.
Sources:
“Estille Dunham Prisoner of Japs For Four Years.” Quincy Herald Whig, November 13, 1045, 10.
Devereus, James P.S. USMC. The Story of Wake Island. Philadelphia, PA: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1947.
“Men in Service.” Quincy Herald-Whig, May 26, 1945, 8.
Urwin, Gregory J. W. Victory In Defeat The Wake Island Defenders in Captivity 1941-1945. Annapolis MD: Naval Institute Press, 1010.
Wukovits, John. Pacific Alamo: The battle for Wake Island. New York: New American Library, 2003.
